Harness pad or lining



(No Model.)

L. T. RIGGS & G. E. ELY. HARNESS PAD OR LINING.

No. 557,885. Patented Apr. 7, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS T. RIGGS AND GEORGE E. ELY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

HARNESS PAD OR LINING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,885, dated April '7, 1896.

Application filed November 18,1893. Serial No. 491,343. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LOUIS T. RIGGS and GEORGE E. ELY, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Harness Pads or Linings; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

Our present invention has for its object to provide a harness pad or lining adapted particularly for use beneath the saddle, but capable of being used with slight modifications under the collar or elsewhere on a harness; and it consists of a pad or lining composed of a suitable soft absorbent backingsuch as hair or wool, felt, or similar material-and a surface or lining of woven haircloth adapted to come in contact with the back or other part of the animal when used, all as will be hereinafter fully described, and the novel features pointed out in the claim at the end of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a harness-pad constructed in accordance with our invention; Fig. 2 a bottom plan, and Fig. 3 a transverse section, of the same on the line it a: of Fig. 2.

Similar reference-numerals in the several figures indicate similar parts.

The main body of the pad is composed of a backing or base 1, of felt or similar soft absorbent material, provided with the straps 2, adapted to pass over the harness-saddle, and the strap 3 for attachment to the saddle to prevent displacement as usual in devices of this description. Secured to the inner side of this base 1, preferably by sewing, is a lining of ordinary woven haircloth 4:, its smooth side being outward, so that when the pad is secured to the harness-saddle by the straps 2 or other fastening devices said lining will be in contact with the animals skin.

The stitches uniting the haircloth lining to the backing or-base 1, it will be noted, are only located at the sides and not at the ends of the pad, so that when the pad is curved to fit the animals back or other part the hair weft of the cloth may give somewhat and keep the cloth smooth, which could not well be accomplished if it were rigidly secured at the ends and sides as well. This smooth haircloth is not absorbent and cannot therefore become wet by perspiration and thereby serve to gall and chafe the skin of the animal, as do ordinary felt pads, but the perspi ration passes through the meshes of the cloth and is absorbed by the felt base or backing 1, keeping the skin beneath the pad dry and cool.

The practical eificiency of our pad has been demonstrated by extensive use, and the advantages of a device possessing the capacity of removing the perspiration from the skin of the animal beneath the saddle or other part of theharness and at the same time presenting a smooth clean surface will be at once apparent to those skilled in the art.

YVhile we have shown our invention as applied to a removable pad adapted to support a harness-saddle, it is obvious that collars or breeching straps could be provided with a non-absorbent smooth surface of haircloth and a backing of absorbent felt and the objects of our invention accomplished.

We find in practice that it is oftentimes advisable when the pads are applied to animals having sore backs to place in the absorbent felt backing a healing solution or sub stance which will be carried to the sore by the perspiration and serve to cure the abrasion.

The term ordinary haircloth used in the specification is intended to mean the kind ordinarily employed for covering furniture and usually very smooth and thin, being formed of a warp of single horse-hairs and a weft of linen or other thread, a majority of the warp-threads being usually on the surface, producing a very smooth side on which the weft does not appear. This variety of haircloth is readily distinguishable from one composed of cords of twisted animal hair woven into fabric, as the ends of the hair do not project from the face and the fabric is not liable to scratch and irritate a sore on an animals back, as would be the case With a smooth surface outward to come in contact cloth formedof single twisted and woven hair. with the animals skin, substantially as de- 10 e claim as our inventionscribed. A harness pad or lining having a backing LOUIS T. RIG GS. of soft absorbent material as felt and a lin- GEORGE E. ELY. ing of ordinary woven haircloth secured there- Vitnesses FRED F. CHURCH,

to at the sides only, leaving the ends free, said haircloth lining being arranged with its G. A. RODA. 

